Quick Outline of My Summer Planning Homework

I have been doing a little reflecting in the last few weeks, but none of it really materializes here. Lot's of thinking while busily playing happy homemaker this summer. (oy!)

First, I wish I could have/would have done a better job using technology last year. I had the opportunity to use it more than I ever have, and I did. I have a love/hate relationship with technology. It has made learning and teaching just that much more exciting and engaging, but there are times--too many times--where I think a regular pencil/paper/brain combination is actually more effective. These thoughts are not unreasonable. I just have to figure out the correct classroom ratio.

Last year, I had wanted to start a classroom blog or a network of student blogs, but that proved to be more than I personally could handle with so many walls (of the fire kind) in front of me. I think I have some solutions of where to go that I didn't have a year ago--or even 4 months ago--but it is difficult to know for sure until I am in front of a computer on the school's server. (A seriously common problem I have in not being able to access the same places at school as I can at home.) But even more, I am still floundering on how to use blogs in my classroom, that is, for what great purpose would I use blogs to enhance students learning? To that question I have a lot of answers, and I have even more questions. This is the jumble of stuff that goes on in my head all the time. For those of you who can tolerate my long-ass posts, you already know that.

I'm also interested in wikis and I think I have some ideas there, too. I know what they are, but I'm shakier in that area in knowing how to apply them in the classroom. And podcasting? I can definately see some application. Oh! And am the only teacher who doesn't use video streaming? (We apparently have some great resources in the district.) And is there some other great technology any teacher worth her medicore technological ability should be using? Please enlighten me now while I have time to think. A month from now I won't.

Geez, I used to be pretty good at this computer stuff. In 1996. When the Internet was in black and white...

But then addition to the technology...how can I encourage my students to read more? I had an amazing number of students who would actually do their nightly reading, but it was that 10% who were good readers but simply refused. (Oh, I know that 90% mostly doing what they should be is amazing. I am thankful.) I also need a better system for monitoring my 150 students so they don't cheat on their AR quizzes, too.

Will I have to set up any new cheating preventions this year? Last year's teacher had several instances of plagarism with the group of students I'll be receiving. As 7th graders they are already trying it, lying about it, and denying it even with solid proof! Sure, I'm a crafty opponent--I once busted and benched half a baseball team for plagarising book reviews--but I'd rather have prevention in place. Setting up every trap and net to prevent students from failing themselves is just that new millenium bonus to teaching, is it not?

How can I squeeze in more literature? More writing? More speaking? More thinking? Okay, those are the basics, the no-brainers. The great curriculum juggling act.

Think, think, think...

The Game That Saved the World

Or at least my sanity. Kind of. This is a representation of 100 UNO cards in celebration of History is Elementary's 100th post. She has some diverse assignments for us to do to celebrate with her, and quite frankly about all I can do is piggy back off other's ideas these days. But WAHOO for her ongoing enthusiasm!

So, what's with the UNO? It's the kids' favorite game right now, and keeps them entertained for sporadically throughout the day. (Unfornately, it has done nothing to help me in the last few minutes as I was trying to make this post.) I hate to admit it, but this was also a game that I adored when I was a kid, too. I just celebrated a birthday this week (as you can see no celebration post anywhere) and when I think back to how many years ago that was, well...I can tell you that Uno has been entertaining kids for a helluva long time!

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Oops! Almost forgot! Check out the 75th Carnival of Education over at School Me! It promises to be a rockin' good time.

Down Meme-ory Lane

CaliforniaTeacherGuy has started a memory lane meme. Nothing like a little reminiscing on a warm summer afternoon. So grab some lemonade and then go on over to read his beginning meme. He's also included a template for your convenience!

• Though I have never given birth my own children, after years of teaching, I think I know quite a bit about parenting. I try to be compassionate to parents who are having a rough time with their kids (especially in teenager form) because I've found that most of them are trying their best and are at their wit's end. (My stints at being an evil stepmother also give me insight, of course.)
• I have always loved reading. I used to get in trouble in Mr. Long's language arts class because I was often reading instead of listening to him.
• I still remember moving to another state in April of my kindergarten year. Some boys stole my show-and-tell, which was a stuffed tiger, and hid it in the boys' bathroom. Ew! Yuck! I still remember who one of the boys was, and he never became a nicer person.
• It astounds me that my best friend's oldest daughter is going to be in 9th grade next year. How did she end up with a teenage daughter? In a few years her children will be grown up!! Of course my best friend is a whole day older than I am...so these things could happen to HER, but certainly not me...
• I was fortunate that my parents were strict. Man, my dad was a hard-ass. And kind of a tighwad, too. I appreciate those things about him, though. And my mother kept us in line helping around the house and yard. My brother and I learned a strong work ethic, and we stayed out of trouble because we weren't allowed to just run wild. I still fear the wrath of my father and try not to disappoint him. It's not that bad, though. My sweetie and I love to spend time with my parents--they're a lot of fun! My dad has turned in to a real teddy bear, but when we were younger he could be a grizzly bear. It worked, though.
• I never really planned what my wedding would be like as some young girls did. When I married the first time, I just kind of winged it--and on a low budget no less. It was nice, I suppose, but hardly a dream wedding. The second time around I opted to just run off and get married at a riverside chapel in Reno. That was more a dream wedding to me!
• I first learned…about teaching when I taught Sunday school and vacation bible school when I was a teenager. Mostly I taught the preschool and kindergarten classes. I must have been a completely different person then because those are the LAST two age levels I ever hope to teach. Yea, they are cute, but after that Christmas pageant stint with what I believed to be cousins to the Herdman family (from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever), I think I lost a little passion for bringing Jesus to the children. And teaching little children.
• I never expected to have the ability to travel when I became a teacher. Or have any kind of luxury. When I graduated, the going rate for teachers in Utah was $18,000. Luckily, I couldn't find a job and ended up moving to Nevada where I made about $6,000 more a year. I don't get to do it too much anymore because my family has different priorities right now, but when I was single, I was always traveling about.
• By the time I graduated from college, I thought I'd have a breakdown if I didn't get a job. It took me several years to put myself through school, and the last few years were financially the worst. (Not to mention I was ready to move on in life!)
• I have received a lot of criticism in my career. Geez, everyone has something to say about teachers. Sometimes it hurts, but I do try to take those outside thoughts to my own inside thoughts. I'm hardly perfect, so sometimes criticism is the stepping stone to self-improvement.
• I found that I have a low tolerance for poor customer service. When I worked in food and retail I always had supervisors who insisted that the customer was right now matter how crazy they might be. It was never an option to be rude or indifferent to a customer no matter how busy we were, how rude they were, or how bad they might smell.
• I had always assumed I wouldn't live to see my 18th birthday. I was a pretty together kid, but I had a hard time imaging life after high school. It was just so out of my realm of knowledge or expectation. Sure, I made plans, but it just didn't seem real. Or perhaps at the time, it seemed too real.
• I’m grateful for the time I spent working at my job at the independent bookstore through my college years. I worked with a bunch of strong, educated women and through them associated with other women like them. It was more than work, though. They were an extended family to me. My experiences there really shaped a lot of who I became, and for that I am extremely grateful.
  

Wanna give it a shot? Why not?

Take a Break! Go to the Carnival!

I'm a little behind on the times, but just in case you didn't know, the 74th Carnival of Education is over at NYC Educator this week. Can I just say that NYC is one of my favorite daily reads? (Sometimes I am a little lost since I'm a left-coaster, but a lot of issues are universal.) And NYC, thanks, dahling for mentioning me! Sorry I haven't been writing about education, though.

I've only glanced at the events, but it looks HUGE! I'm going to wait to go on over when I don't have The Little One (five-year old stepson) constantly chirping in my ear. It's reminiscent of last summer. It's probably a personality trait. I might start hanging out with the stay-at-home-mommy crowd, although I don't know how they have time to read or write blogs anyway. Have I already said that I'm not cut out for the stay-at-home-mommy thing? I'm a working woman! Plus I require a lot of "me time." [Snort] I'm off to make lunch and rotate laundry.

Yo! There better be a beer garden at the carnival. See ya there!

People Watching

Who doesn't love to do a little people watching? I can't help it. When I see people I tend to WONDER what their stories are. Yesterday even my husband admitted "people are interesting," and I don't think he much pays attention to things like that.

We had a picnic lunch at the kids' favorite park. Here are some gleanings:

• We are obviously amateurs at going to the park. This is actually something I've observed before. Most serious park-goers have blankets, folding chairs, coolers, and gallons of water. The must also arrive early because they also get the best, shaded areas.
• I saw a couple at one of the tables. They had a big phonebook and a rolodex and were making phone calls. At first I was perplexed by this because if I had to work I wouldn't do it in the park when it was 93 degrees outside. (Yea! That's actually cool for here, but still not THAT cool.) I didn't realize until later that they had children because the man wasn't part of the...
• Papa Perimeter--which is what you get when all the dads are standing around the edges of the playground watching their children. It's quite endearing! Like a line of bodyguards.

In the evening we went to a park in a neighboring city where there was a big celebration and fireworks display that attracted tens of thousands of people. Oh, you know that place was ripe for people watching.

• Again, we are certainly amateurs because we lacked anything to temporarily set up house in the park. That was kind of on purpose because I didn't want to have to carry a bunch of stuff. The kids tried to talk me into taking a huge tote bags full of stuff, but when I suggested they might like to carry those things, they decided that we would probably be okay without. I carried my chapstick and a communal bottle of water. Other attendees, however, went to the park for the long haul. One family brought two playpens for their toddlers. Another family set up a tent.
• While standing in line to get dinner, I observed a guy stuck in 1984 hitting on two girls who told him they were 19. He had long blond Van Halen hair, a baggy t-shirt, and sweat pants with pockets. I think the three of them were kind of talking about the live music on that side of the park, which happened to be country music. The man looked kind of young, but I thought he was maybe my age (it was the hair), until he started talking about remembering when getting tickets to Bob Seger was a big thing. Even I was thinking, "Huh?" The girls didn't know what to say. Crash and burn, dude. Crash and burn.
• I would say that the majority of the people found a place on the grass--there was lots of it--to watch the fireworks. We were on our way to snag our piece when we found some unoccupied bleacher seating at the baseball field. The field itself was off-limits as it was the fireworks staging area. Front row seating, baby! With this seating came rambunctious boys who proceeded to wrestle and beat the crap out of each other for, well, 45 minutes or so? When the oldest one grew tired of his weakening sibling, he decided to climb the chain-link fence that separated the diamond from the spectator seating. I kept one eye on the boys and another eye on the reactions to the people sitting near us. Some elderly folks behind me look about as irritated as I felt, but other than that, nothing...
• Our 5-year old said to me at one point when a one of boys was climbing and standing on the handrail, "That baby is going to fall!" I told him that the boy wasn't a baby, and he said, "But he's wearing a diaper!" Uhm, yea. What were our children doing while this was going on? Sitting quietly with only an occasional inquiry about the time. Something about seeing wild children just calms them right down. That's the second time I've seen that behavior in our kids in the last few days. Interesting.
• Just minutes before the fireworks started a family squeezed into the seating around us. When the fireworks started, their dog started freaking out. It didn't really affect any of us in the stands, which I was thankful for, but the father of the family had to hold the dog and talk to him during the whole display. It was the kind of talk you would say to a small child who was afraid, "It's okay, nobody's going to hurt you, calm down, and etc." Through the WHOLE thing, and in both English and Spanish! Is the dog bilingual? I'm kind of jealous if he is.
• While waiting for the shuttle, we stood in line in front of a woman, her pre-teen daughter, and the woman's friend. The woman seemed stressed out about something and couldn't wait to drop her daughter off and then go have a drink with her friend. It wasn't until we were on the shuttle that the woman turned around and told me her story. Just a few minutes before she left the house to meet her daughter and friend at the park, her 11-year old son was arrested for setting off firecrackers in an abandoned house with some friends of his. She was quite beside herself because there wasn't a lot she could do that night, and she couldn't believe that her straight-A son had gone off and gotten himself in such big trouble. Apparently it was the first summer she had decided to give him some freedom to go off with his friends without direct supervision. My first impression of her weren't so great, but then after hearing this story, I really believed that she had tried to raise some decent kids. I don't know, something just struck me. (BTW, does anyone else remember those summers when we went off for practically the whole day without direct supervision? And on the 4th of July, we sometimes had fireworks and matches!)
• Self observation: At one point during the fireworks there was a succession of explosions that, to me, sounded like rapid gunfire. I quite overcome with emotion and almost started crying, as it reminded me of the soldiers we have overseas. When they hear those noises, it's not a sight of beautiful for them. I have quite a few former students in the Armed Forces, and at one point I could think of at least 8-9 in dangerous areas overseas. I'm so proud of them. And thankful to them. They damn well better be keeping their asses safe! They deserve to be spending the day with their families, too. [sniff]
  
  

A Meme... Because I Can

Here's a meme I snagged from California Teacher Guy. He got it from some other people, so be sure to work your way back for some interesting reading. These prompts are similar to some poetry formulas I have used. It's kind of cool to me because you can certainly plan your responses around an idea. OR you can just put down the first thing that comes to your head. That's my favorite. Some of my answers surprise me, too. Just never know what's floating around in my head.

I know that I know quite a bit, but compared to what knowledge is out there in the world, I know nothing.

I believe everyone has to believe in something.

I fought to get myself through college.

I am a strong woman, but sometimes I forget and just hang back in the shadows.

I love unconditionally my family and a handful of close friends who are like family.

I need positive influences in my life or I get sucked into negativity pretty quickly.

I take as much time as I can just for myself.

I hear so many points of view to situations that sometimes I have no idea what the truth is.

I drink my share of caffeine pretty much every day and wish I could quit permanently.

I hate nothing. There are things I dislike, though.

I use too much hand santizer. I think it might be some OCD condition I've acquired.

I want to worry about every. damn. thing. a lot less.

I decided to stay at status quo for at least another year, and once made that decisionI felt a lot more peace.

I like quirky people.

I am a good teacher who feels she could be so much better.

I feel mental exhaustions pretty frequently.

I left a lot of my belongings behind when I moved here a few years ago.

I do love and depend on my sweetie so much that it might be kind of sappily sweet to others.

I hope my sweetie and I start moving a little more quickly toward our goals and dreams. Our progress has been slow, yet steady.

I dream about teaching quite a bit. That's when good ideas come to me!

I drive cautiously around the city and fast on the open road.

I listen to what people have to say because even minor encounters with people can provide life lessons.

I type much better without fancy fingernails.

I think too much sometimes. I think it drives my sweetie a little looney.

I wish I didn't have to work so hard to find inner peace.

I compensate for my shortcomings in many ways. Who doesn't?

I regret not going back to school sooner.

I care about kids and the future they can build for themselves and our country.

I should exercise more.

I am not always tuned into the moment at hand. Talk about out of body experience...

I said, "You'll live. We'll slap a band aid on that and tomorrow you will have forgotten about it."

I wonder what my future holds.

I changed my mind on my chosen career. Several times. Still.

I cry too often over silly things. I can't help it.

I am WYSISYG. Deal with it.

I am not always what people think I should be.

I lose patience as I age. What has happened to common deciency?

I leave this post to retire to bed. Sleep rocks!

Feeling adventurous? Cut and paste it into your own blog (delete my answers, of course), then let me know where to find you. Come on! You know you have nothing better to do!

Irritational Thoughts

I heard some sounds outside and the first thing I say to myself: "Were those gun shots?"

A couple of brain blinks later, I answer myself: "Duh! The 4th of July is in a few days. It's probably fireworks. Geez. Get a grip."



Perhaps I could really use a news fast--you know when you don't watch the news because it's so negative. So you do a fast for a little while. Maybe rational thought will return to me, instead of quick draw to potential violence.

Plus, I definately could use a nice little vacation to somewhere not so urban.

And much cooler. The heat cannot be a good thing for my brain health.

Yea that's it. Half the blame to my ridiculous reaction to a popping sound goes to the media. The other half goes to oppressive Mother Nature. Makes sense to me.